Recruiting in rural areas difficult

By MELISSA
NELSON-GABRIEL
THE Associated Press

Published: January 5, 2014;Last modified: January 5, 2014 05:00AM

FREEPORT, Fla. — In this rural part of the Panhandle, Christopher Mitchell finds few takers when he delivers his message about the importance of exploring insurance options under the federal health overhaul.

People in the conservative-leaning area tend to have a bad impression of President Obama’s signature law because of negative messages they hear on talk radio or from friends, said Mitchell, marketing director for a network of nonprofit health clinics. Even for those with insurance, a doctor’s visit may require a long drive because there are few providers in the area — and some are selective about the coverage they accept.

Around the country, advocates spreading the word about the Affordable Care Act in rural areas face similar difficulties. Coupled with the well-publicized glitches for the online insurance marketplaces, their stories illustrate the broader challenges in meeting President Barack Obama’s goal of reducing the number of uninsured in places with some of the highest percentages of uninsured residents.

“I tell people that I am not here to advocate for the law, I am here to support the law and empower people to be able to use and understand the law,” said Mitchell, whose employer, PanCare of Florida, received a federal grant for outreach efforts. “But when people are hearing over and over and over that is bankrupting America, it is hard to break through.”

On a recent afternoon, Mitchell made his pitch to half a dozen patients in the waiting room of a low-slung brick clinic surrounded by pine trees on the two-lane state road that serves as Freeport’s main street. In areas like this — where one-story houses and mobile homes sit far apart on lots of tan, sandy soil and pine needles — many poor residents could benefit from federally subsidized health insurance but aren’t open to it.